President-elect Obama’s inaugural address is going to be not just the most-watched political speech in U.S. history, but in world history.

The x-factor here is information technology. Add digitally transmitted and stored media (like this BBC video of Obama’s Grant Park victory speech) to post-Bush relief/curiosity/hope and the President-elect’s multicultural appeal, and I’d wager that a third of the planet will have seen at least part of the inaugural address within a week of its delivery.

If that’s the case, this single speech could represent the most significant moment of “soft power” the Obama Adminstration could have across its entire first term.

A recent email from the Obama inauguration machine alluded to a “call to national service” coming in this speech. And in any message the President-elect delivers to America, about Americans, there will of course be an implicit message to the world – a message about what the world can expect from Americans.

Yet with so many more watching outside America, I’m hoping President-elect Obama has something to say directly to them. They will be as much a part of the audience as the crowds on the Mall, and he may never have another such moment.

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[…] of the Falun Gong (ten years) to the revolutionary success of the CCP (sixty years). Given the soft power potential of an Obama Administration – and I’m wagering this will become more evident in the coming year, with […]